Contact Me!
If you have any questions or want to know the status of my two APBT's please get in touch with me by emailing me below. Or if you are not big on email you might catch me as wulf_chasing_a_coyote or westtxpits surfing the yahoo chat client!
westtxpits@hotmail.com

The TRUTH is out there!!!

History:

Pit bulls started out as "bulldogs", they were used to "bait" bulls. In other words they would turn lose the dogs to make the bull mad or distract the bull for the human that was in the arena with the bull. When people tired of this "sport" they needed a new purpose for the extreamly tough and loyal dogs. This led to butchers using the dogs to hold down cows at the slaughter house, using them to hunt wild boars (one of the few breeds of dog tough enough and brave enough to bring down a boar on it's own) and men fighting the dogs against each other and other animals in a "pit".
You do not have to teach a pit bull to be dog aggressive, it was bred into them from a long way back but human aggression, not to be confused with dog aggression is a more recently aquired trait. When people were using them as fighting dogs human aggression was considered a VERY bad trait. If a dog in the "pit" ever showed aggression or bit one of the men in the pit it was immediatly killed. The handlers had to be able to get down in the "pit" to seperate the dogs without getting thier arms chewed off so most of the pit bulls back then would have NEVER bit a human.
Fighting by todays standards has changed the dogs now because most are beaten and cursed by thier owners and human aggression is ignored because fights are alot more brutal and the dogs will fight to the death instead of being broke once the winner is evident.
When fighting was outlawed most dogs were sentenced to death. The few that remained only made it because of a quick resourceful name change. People started taking out the "pit" and replacing it with "terrier".
The dogs were brought over to early America and were often the dog of choice when moving to the untamed west. From thier bull fighting, hunting and pit fighting roots came a very "game" (term used to describe the looks and determinated personality of the pit bull breed) dog that was happy in the warm climates and not worried about the other hostile wildlife.
America came to love the dogs so much they added thier name to them, hence the American Pit Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier. The pit bull was featured on war posters for WWI and WWII and in WWI many pits were used by the United States Army. Even today some army groups still have a pit bull mascot that lives and works with the soldiers. After that America fell in love with the APBT "Petey" off of the Lil Rascals and the Bull Terrier used in the old RCA commercials. The pit bull was flying high in America until dog fighting became popular again.

Dog fighting is NOT a sport and should be abolished.

The rules of todays fights have changed and the fights have become even more dangerous and inhumane. As more young teenage boys enter into the ring as a status boosting technique you see more and more badly abused, mistreated and confused pit bulls. Backyard breeders are breeding truely AGGRESSIVE dogs that are causing the pit name to be tarnished and feared.
Human aggression is one of the main new problems that has come from this new fighting ring. More and more everyday we hear of "pitbulls" attacking humans. It is a shame what some people are doing to this breed. But it's even a bigger shame that all of the breed must pay for it. In many cities it is now illegal to own a pit bull and other cities have set age limits and muzzle rules to try to keep fighting rings from moving into thier neighborhoods. Many of the dogs that are called pit bulls in the news media are really just dangerous mixes or inbred pits with BAD owners.
Don't get me wrong a Pit Bull is still a Pit Bull but when raised correctly they can be a GREAT memeber of the family. If you get one from the right breeder and know it's history you will wind up with a stable, loving, loyal dog that would never hurt or "turn" on it's family. They are NOT human aggressive, HOWEVER they do tend to be DOG aggressive but with the right socialization and encouragement they can get along with even members of thier own kind. It is easier to get a pit to love a tiny chihuahua than another pit but it is not impossible. They tend to be a little hard headed at times but with lots of love and training they make GREAT pets! As you will see in my site mine get along with EVERYTHING. They have not met anyone or anything they don't like.


FYI

1. Pit Bulls DO NOT have a locking jaw! Total myth. Yes they do have big heads and large, powerful jaws but they DO NOT lock. They are just a brave, corageous dog with alot of determination.

2. They CAN be walked off a leash in controled areas if they have had the proper training.

3. They DO NOT "turn". If a dog winds up biting his/her owner it is not something that snaped in the dog it is something the human has done to the dog. As puppies they should NOT be allowed to chew on people. They should not be scared or frightened by someone at an early age. And they should NEVER be teased, taunted or beaten by ANYONE. If your dogs bites you it is something you did or something you let someone else do, you molded him/her, you pay the price.

4. Pit bulls do not make good "guard" dogs. Yes they will bark and do it quite frequently but usually they are all bark and NO bite. When confronted they will either run away or try to greet them as family. (But usually the look of having a pit in your yard is enough to keep visitors away so it's up to you, Personaly I just wanted a dog that would bark at the neighbors if they got too close to the fence and that's what I've got)

5. Pits can get along with other Pits. Alot of the times I see people that keep thier dogs chained up all the time. It breaks my heart to know that all that dog can do is run around in his little 10 foot circle while mine have full run of the backyard. Pits need a good fence but if raised properly and socialized with many different FRIENDLY dogs at an early age they can be trusted around others of thier own kind. Mine have many different friends including a husky, a chihuahua, a toy poodle, a rottweiler, a dachshund, a shih tzu, a wolf, and other pit bulls. My female has been rushed by other dogs three or four different times and has NEVER bit back. The worse incident was when another young pit pup rushed her and bit at her neck (he still had puppy teeth so she wasn't hurt just small scratches and a few scabs) she didn't bite him back. She raised her hair and showed her teeth but stood there until I got him away from her. It is all in how they are raised and what they are exposed to as puppies.